


Make A Wish

by whitchry9



Series: Avocados and Avengers [9]
Category: Daredevil (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Children, Friendship, Gen, Parkour, Terminal Illnesses, make-a-wish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-20
Updated: 2016-06-26
Packaged: 2018-07-16 05:21:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,315
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7254094
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitchry9/pseuds/whitchry9
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Daredevil is contacted by the Make-A-Wish Foundation about a dying girl who wants to meet him, he thinks it's a terrible terrible idea.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt here: http://daredevilkink.dreamwidth.org/8423.html?thread=16466151#cmt16466151

Mei was nine and three quarters and she wasn't sure if she was going to live to ten, but she was very hopeful.

 

She had cancer that was living in her brain, and the doctors had tried very hard to get it out, but it didn't seem to be working.

She'd had surgery and chemotherapy and radiation and traditional Chinese medicine and acupuncture.

Some of them hurt more than others, and some didn't hurt at all, but did make her sick.

She'd seen pictures of her brain, ones where the cancer was little and she almost couldn't see it or believe that something so small was so bad. In other pictures it was bigger, and she wondered what she was doing to make it grow like that, if she was doing something wrong.

 

Not long ago, her doctors and nurses and parents sat down with her to discuss _her options._ This was the first time she'd been included in such an important discussion. Sometimes they asked her what she thought, but she never got to sit in on the meeting.

Maybe it was because she was almost ten. They realized she was responsible enough to make important decisions.

 

Except when they said _options,_ they really meant if she wanted to keep getting sick or if she wanted to stop and let the cancer grow. And letting the cancer grow meant that she would also get sicker, but not in a way that hurt as much or made her as sick. Her hair wouldn't fall out and she wouldn't look like a skeleton and they wouldn't have to point the laser at her head or do anymore surgery.

But she'd still get sicker.

She knew what the meant. She knew they were really asking her if she wanted to die.

And she didn't, of course. Mei did not want to die, she wanted to grow up and get superpowers and join the Avengers.

But she also didn't want to hurt anymore.

That was what she told her parents and the doctors and nurses.

Her parents looked very sad, but said they were proud of her, and she tried to keep her lip from wiggling and bursting into tears.

 

They took her home after that, told her she wouldn't have to go back to the hospital anymore, that nurses could come to their house instead.

 

Sometimes she heard her parents whispering at night, about her. These days, it was always about her. Sometimes they fought about her, even though it was still whispering, and not yelling like they used to do. She knew they didn't want her to hear.

She wondered if she'd made the wrong decision.

 

One morning, they told her that she'd get to make a wish. She could pick anything she wanted, they told her, so she should start thinking about what she wanted, maybe to go on a trip or to have a big birthday party.

 

Mei nodded and immediately started thinking.

 

They went to meet the wish granter later that week. Her name was Kavita and she had pretty long hair that Mei wished she could have. But that wasn't her real wish, it was just a little one, not one you save up for big things like shooting stars or birthday candles.

Or wish granters.

 

“Hi Mei,” Kavita said. “Your parents tell me that you've been thinking about a wish you'd like. Have you decided on something?”

Mei nodded. “I want to meet Daredevil,” she said firmly.

Her parents glanced at each other, and then back at the wish granter.

“I'll see what I can do,” Kavita said.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Matt paused on his patrol. There was a woman on the roof. He was pretty sure that she was waiting for him.

“Mr Daredevil?” she called. “Is that you? I need to talk to you.”

Matt frowned at the person standing across from him on the roof.

“How did you find me?” he asked.

“Luck, mostly,” she admitted. “I've been sitting on rooftops every night for a week and a half. I figured you'd stop by eventually. I tried contacting you in other ways, advertisements in the paper, reaching out to some of your known associates, but none of it seemed to work.”

That pinged an alert in Matt's mind. Who was this person and why was she so determined to speak with him? Most people ran the other way screaming.

“What do you want?” he growled.

She winced. “I work in the New York chapter of the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I assume you've heard of it?” She continued without waiting for his response. “There's a young girl with a medulloblastoma, a brain tumour, and she's dying. She's had the cancer for a few years, and they've done surgery, chemo, radiation, but it keeps coming back and this time it's growing into her brainstem.”

Matt raised an eyebrow. He knew the woman couldn't see it under his suit, but she stopped anyway.

“The reason I'm coming to you is because her wish is to meet Daredevil. That's you.”

“Me?” he asked.

“Yes. She wants to meet you. We tried to get her to change her mind, meet the Avengers instead, since those guys are public and a hell of a lot easier to arrange a meeting with, not to mention safer, but she refused. Apparently you're her hero.”

Matt only stared at the woman standing across from him.

He didn't know what to do.

 

 

* * *

 

 

“You have to say yes,” Foggy told him, examining the card the woman gave him. They'd confirmed she was legit and not some elaborate ploy to entrap him.

“Foggy, we're talking about a sick dying girl. And I'm her wish. How can I possibly do that to her?” Matt protested.

“What do you mean? She wants to meet you. That's the whole point.”

“Yeah, probably because she's idolized me or something, romanticized the idea of what I do. I know what I do Foggy, and I am not a hero.”

“Maybe she doesn't admire you for what you do, exactly,” Foggy suggested. “But more for what you stand for. Didn't you tell your guy you wanted a symbol when he made your suit? That's what you are buddy.”

“I don't know,” Matt said dubiously.

“Look. She probably grew up here in Hell's Kitchen, lived here in this neighbourhood. Maybe she loved the Avengers. But then Daredevil comes along, and it's like he's come to save them. Maybe not in the best, most legal ethical way, but still. He's a hero. And not a hero on a global scale like the Avengers, or even one with superpowers or who can fly like some of the others. Daredevil is from this city and he's a part of this city. You gave this city hope when it needed it the most, and that includes a little girl. And you're going to do it again. So I want you to do whatever you need to do to convince yourself this is a good decision. Talk to your priest, consult Claire, I don't know. Whatever. But so help me Matthew Michael Murdock, this little girl's dying wish is to meet you and you are not disappointing her.”

Matt sighed. “Okay, fine.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey Matt what's up? Everything alright?”

“Yeah, I'm good. I just have a question.”

Steve paused and shifted the phone. “Sure. What do you want to know?”

“Have you ever done a Make-A-Wish thing?” he asked.

On the other end of the line, Steve paused. “Did you get asked?”

“Yeah,” Matt sighed. “A little girl with a brain tumour wants to meet Daredevil.”

“Oh wow.”

“So have you?”

“Yeah, a few times. One boy with blood cancer, a few who weren't terminal but were living with some pretty awful stuff. Modern medicine is amazing, don't get me wrong, but the thing that people can survive sometimes scares me.”

“I know what you mean.”

They're both quiet for a minute.

“Was it hard?” Matt asked.

Steve, to his credit, didn't pretend to not know what he was asking.

“It's one of the most difficult things you can ever do,” he admitted. “But it's also amazing. Those kids, at least the ones I've met, they idolized me. And I never felt like I deserved that, of course, but they saw something in me that they just... clung to. And if Captain America is the thing that gets them through their treatments or makes them smile in the morning, how can I say no to that? I'll go wherever they want, meet a hundred kids if they ask. Because, yeah Matt, it's hard. But it's worth it.”

“Well shit,” Matt sighed. “How can I refuse now?”

Steve laughed.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Matt had Foggy dial, first because he couldn't distinguish the phone number on the card, and second because he was scared and didn't want to be able to back out. Foggy being there ensured he couldn't.

 

Apparently the name of the woman who spoke to him was also on the card, which was helpful.

 

“This is Kavita.”

“Umm, this is Daredevil,” Matt said awkwardly, pitching his voice low and ignoring Foggy's attempts to not laugh in the background. “We spoke the other night.”

“Oh my goodness, yes.” Papers crinkled in the background. “I was hoping you'd call. Have you decided?”

Matt sighed. “Yes, I'll do it.”

“Excellent! Oh, she's going to be so pleased. I'll make all the arrangements and... I suppose you won't want me to call you? How about you call back the day after tomorrow in the evening? I should have all the arrangements made by then. What's your availability like?”

“Oh, whenever is good, I guess. When it's darker out, maybe.”

“Great. The only thing I ask is to let me know if you're feeling ill, because her immune system is compromised from the treatments and her doctors don't want her to get sick. Got it?”

“Yeah.”

Matt practically heard her beam on the other end of the line. “And again, thank you so much. I'll talk to you again soon! Bye!”

Matt muttered a goodbye and hung up.

He glared in Foggy's direction.

“Not a word,” he growled.

“I wish I could be there,” Foggy said dreamily.

Matt whipped a pillow at him and enjoyed the squeak of surprise that resulted.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Kavita had worked in the Make-A-Wish office for seven years. She had granted almost fifty wishes herself during that time, ranging from Disney trips for families to making houses wheelchair accessible, from meeting singers to being a firefighter for a day. She had even arranged for one young boy to be a superhero for a day, hanging out with the Avengers and stopping a crime.

 

But she'd never been faced with something so complicated as Mei's wish to meet Daredevil.

First of all, because the man was something of a mystery, even in New York. Kavita didn't live in Hell's Kitchen, didn't know all of the lore about the man like the locals did. But one of her daughter's friends had a father who lived in the neighbourhood and was more than willing to share the stories with her.

Second, she wasn't even sure if this was a wish she should grant, even if she could. After all, the man was a vigilante and his identity was not publicly known. He'd even been linked with crimes that were later found to be carried out by Wilson Fisk. But the people of Hell's Kitchen all seemed to support him, and he'd even been associated with the Avengers, and on one instance, trusted with Iron Man's suit to take down the monster of the week. She supposed if the Avengers trusted him, it would have to be good enough.

Third, he was hard to get in contact with. She placed advertisements in the paper, reached out to local newspapers, even tried to contact the Avengers to see if they could contact him.

Eventually she resorted to spending her nights on rooftops in the hopes that the man himself would drop by.

 

And he finally did.

 

That was the easy part, she soon found out.

 

Harder was getting him to agree to meeting with Mei. Even harder was finding somewhere for them to meet and something for them to do. A wish was never just a simple meeting, it was a magical event for the child and their family.

Kavita couldn't just have them meet Daredevil on some roof. She needed to find something else.

 

In the end, it was Mei herself who offered the suggestion.

“I want to parkour together!” she told Kavita excitedly.

Kavita nodded and googled the word when she had a chance. Parkour was apparently the thing Daredevil did to get places, jumping and spinning off of buildings and structures.

Next she added New York City to her search and came up with a gym in Brooklyn that boasted new facilities and ten thousand square feet of gym space.

Plus, after a quick phone call and a promise to send her credentials along, the facility agreed to allow them to use it for a night, free of charge. She also negotiated to sign waivers in order to allow them to use the facility alone, rather than having the usual trainers present. She suspected Daredevil would balk at the mention of other people being present.

She set up food and other assorted things that turned a night out into a night that Mei would never forget. A night that she would treasure. It was often the little things that made the biggest difference. She contacted a costume maker that she knew in Queens and got him to make a replica Daredevil costume in Mei's size. She called Mei's parents and reassured them that everything would be fine and updated them on some details.

 

Then she waited for Daredevil to call her back.

 

And indeed, two days after he first called, Daredevil called back.

“Hello Daredevil,” she told him. “I've got something interesting planned for you...”

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Can you drive me to Brooklyn?” Matt sighed.

Foggy blinked at him. “Why?”

“The Make-A-Wish thing.”

“Okay...” Foggy said slowly. “That's not a complete explanation, as much as you may think it is."

Matt sighed like Foggy was being the ridiculous one when really it was the other way around. “I'm meeting her at some parkour gym in Brooklyn. It actually sounds like a pretty nice place. But I don't really want to 'Daredevil' the whole way over there.”

When he said Daredevil he used air quotes. Foggy wondered who taught him how to do that.

“Stop using yourself as a verb,” Foggy told him. “And in case you've forgotten, I don't have a car.”

Matt sighed again. “I know, but you know so many people I figured...” he sighed. “Never mind. I'll bring my costume and take a bus.”

“To Brooklyn? At night? No way,” Foggy told him. “Call one of your Avenger friends. Clint lives in Brooklyn at least some of the time, and Tony has like a million cars and even knows how to be discrete. Have him send a driver.”

Matt perked up. “I hadn't thought of that.”

“Of course you hadn't. This is why we're partners. Now go call your super pals.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

“Sir, you have an incoming call from Matthew.”

Tony frowned. “Who?”

Jarvis paused. “Daredevil.”

“Oh, okay. Yeah, I can talk to him.”

“Tony?” Matt asked.

“Hey Hornhead, what's up?”

Matt went quiet. “Never call me that again. Ever.”

Tony snorted. “Fine. Your loss. What are you calling about? Surely it's not just so you can hear me call you varying nicknames.”

Matt sighed. “No. I was wondering if I could use one of your cars-”

“Not to drive I hope,” Tony said, sitting up straight and paying attention.

“Would you let me finish? And one of your drivers. I need to get to Brooklyn Thursday night, in costume, and I'd rather not take the bus.”

“Understandable.” Not that he'd ever taken the bus, let alone in costume. It flew, after all. Buses were for peasants like Barton. “What's in Brooklyn?”

“Some parkour gym. I'm meeting someone there.”

“Oooh,” Tony squealed. “A girl? Or guy, I don't judge.”

He was pretty sure Matt rolled his eyes. “No. I'm doing a Make-A-Wish thing. So yes, it's a girl, but not in the way you're imagining, because she's dying.”

Tony made a sympathetic sound. “This your first one?” He didn't bother waiting for the answer because he already knew. “That's tough. You know, I got requests before I even became Iron Man, but I turned them all down. I figured there was nothing good that could come from kids meeting the merchant of death. But afterwards, when I almost felt like a hero, yeah, I did a bunch. We make sure they stay well funded, and if any kid wants to meet one of the Avengers, we make it happen.”

 

He didn't tell Matt that he still felt unworthy of being a kid's hero even after he became Iron Man. Because he was still the merchant of death. The lives he saved as Iron Man couldn't undo that. But he soon realized that denying those kids their dream of meeting their hero, even if he didn't think himself one, was not sparing them anything. It was only disappointing them more at a time when they needed hope the most. And in their wide eyed idolization, he almost felt like he could be a hero.

 

“You'll be fine,” he assured Matt, aware that he'd left a gap in the conversation. “What time do you need the ride?”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Thursday night dawned and Matt almost felt sick. He wasn't, because he checked, but he was so nervous he almost wished he was. He had no idea why, because he'd done far more terrifying things, like taking down Fisk and fighting monsters with the Avengers. Hell, he'd even sparred with Natasha.

But he'd never done something that required so much delicacy and finesse.

He was terrified of breaking her, either physically or emotionally. What if he disappointed her? What if he ruined her wish?

 

But Foggy reminded him that not going would be an even bigger dick move, disappointing a little girl like that, so when the car showed up, Matt got in.

 

It was late enough that the traffic wasn't completely terrible, but the ride was still long enough to make Matt second guess himself. Repeatedly. There was one point he debated jumping out of the moving vehicle.

 _You're afraid of a little girl,_ he scolded himself. Except that wasn't quite true. _No, you're afraid of disappointing her._

But he was afraid. More afraid than he'd been in a while.

 

Give him ninjas, death threats, bullets, aliens. Anything but dying children.

 

 

* * *

 

 

So far, Mei's wish was _brilliant._ Kavita had given her a present that was her very own Daredevil suit and she was going to be meeting Daredevil and doing parkour with him.

It was like all her dreams had come true.

 

A fancy car picked them up from home and Mei had a hard time sitting still in her seat. Mama scolded her, but she smiled when she did it, and Mei knew she was just as happy.

 

It was dark out because that's when Daredevil came out. But it meant Mei got to stay up late to meet him.

When they finally got to the building, it was huge. And it was going to be all theirs for the night.

 

“Is he here yet?” she asked Kavita, jumping out of the car.

“I don't know Mei. We'll have to go see.”

Mei looked up, wondering if Daredevil was sitting on the roof waiting for them, or if he'd come by a car like they had.

She wasn't sure, but she thought that she could make out a head with horns peering over the side of the roof at them.

But she kept that a secret.

 

“Let's go in!” she said, pulling her mama's hand.

 

Kavita switched the lights on, and the whole building came to light, revealing that Daredevil was already in there waiting for them.

She squealed.

 

“Okay, you wait here for a minute,” Kavita told her. “I'm going to make sure everything is set up.”

Mei watched her talk to Daredevil for what seemed like ages, until finally Dareddevil came over to her. She skipped closer to him, comparing their costumes, and her parents and Kavita hovered near the wall.

 

“Hello Mei,” he said.

She beamed. “Hello Mr Devil. Or should I call you Daredevil. Or Mr Daredevil? I'm very very excited to meet you and do parkour with you.”

He seemed a bit surprised at her enthusiasm.

“It's very nice to meet you,” he responded.

“I have a brain tumour Mr Devil,” she told him. “The doctors took most of it out, but some of it is still in there. Sometimes I think I can feel it growing but they say I can't.”

 

He smiled at her, but she couldn't see his eyes and she wasn't sure if it was a real smile or a 'I know you're dying so I'm going to be nice to you' smile.

“I'm almost ten. What's your name?”

He hesitated, and for a minute she wasn't sure if he was going to tell her or not.

“Matt,” he said softly. “You can call me Matt. But that's just between us, okay?”

Mei glanced at the others standing behind them. “I can keep a secret,” she assured him.

Daredevil, Matt, smiled, and this time she could tell it was a real smile.

 

He knelt down so their masks lined up. “Would you like to learn how to parkour?” he asked her.

Mei beamed. “Yes yes yes!”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Matt stayed for hours with Mei, teaching her how to use everything around her to her advantage, to bounce and jump and climb and spin. He could tell it wore her out, and she had to take frequent breaks to catch her breath, and he sat with her and drank orange soda out of styrofoam cups.

They talked about what her favourite things to do were (read comics) and what her favourite music was (Adele and jazz) and what her favourite colour was (red). Matt told her about how when he was little, he got hurt and he wished that he got to get a Wish like she did. He didn't tell her about what he'd lost and what he'd gone through, because when he compared it to what she was going through, it didn't seem as bad. He talked about his best friend and when he met the Avengers for the first time. Mei told him about friends from school and how she missed them when she was too sick to go.

 

And when they ran out of things to talk about, they went back to jumping and swinging and flying. Matt used the grappling hook to shoot into one of the rafters across the room, and held Mei tight as they swung above the ground and he listened to her shrill laughs of joy.

 

Her parents and the Make-A-Wish worker hovered nearby, but not so close that he felt like they didn't trust him. He was kind of amazed about that, because he knew he wouldn't trust himself, but it was a nice change from the city being out for his blood.

 

Finally the night had to come to an end. Mei was nearly falling asleep as they talked, and her mother kept inching closer.

 

“I don't want to go,” she pouted.

“I know darling. But you're tired. Hasn't your Wish been so good?”

Mei nodded.

Kavita and Mei's father were still off to the side.

 

“Why don't you thank Daredevil for coming and teaching you how to parkour?”

Mei nodded again.

Matt had been expecting her to hug him, but he hadn't expected the force that she put into it, nearly knocking him over with her tiny body.

“Thank you Daredevil,” she said into his stomach.

He crouched down next to her so they were nearly eye to eye.

“You're very welcome Mei. And if you ever need me, I promise I will hear you, okay,” he said seriously. “Kavita will know how to find me.”

She hugged him again.

“Thank you Matt,” she whispered into his ear.

Matt smiled.

 

 

* * *

 

 

He gave Kavita the number of his burner phone, told her to call him if Mei's health changed.

 

She called once, when Mei started losing her vision. Matt thanked her for letting him know, and cried when he hung up.

 

 

“I don't know how to do it,” he told Father Lantom. “She's so young. I don't know if visiting her again will make it better for her, or if it will just make it worse for me. Is it selfish to even consider not going? Would it be invasive if I did go see her again? I can't do anything for her and I hate that. I just... I know it's not a just world, because I'd never have to do what I do if it was. But there are some things I can understand, like the evil of people. But there is no one to blame for this. I can't prevent this or fix it.”

Father Lantom sighed, ever long-suffering. “Matthew, why did you come tonight?” he asked.

“I want to know what to do.”

“You already know what to do,” he said gently. “You just want guidance and someone to tell you you're making the right decision.”

Matt sighed. “I guess I do.”

“Well this is it.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

He went to visit her on her birthday. She was barely conscious and now completely blind in her left eye.

“Matt,” she said. “You came.”

“Of course I did,” he assured her.

Mei smiled and closed her eyes again.

 

Matt sat with her until she fell asleep.

 

 

She died three days later. Matt liked to think she died happy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> In this series, I have a story where Tony sciences Matt's abilities coming that is almost done, and a fic where they defend Bucky that will still be a while.


End file.
